President Duterte on Monday witnessed the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Department of Education (DepEd) facilitating the payment of teacher loans and other DepEd personnel with private lenders.
“We don’t want DepEd employees to sink deep into debt, so we have proposed a better way for them to manage their finances.
The borrowers will pay back the loan to GSIS at easy and affordable terms,” GSIS President and General Manager Jesus Clint Aranas said.
He added that having several loans weaken the employees’ capability to settle their obligations, which include payment of their monthly GSIS premiums and contributions.
“Payment of their GSIS premiums and loans usually take a back seat. If the practice continues, their future GSIS benefits are bound to suffer,” Aranas added.
The project reinforces the issuance of DepEd Order (DO) 38 on July 31, 2017, reiterating the instruction to prioritize premium and loan payments for GSIS for other loans.
The program will be piloted for six months in 12 areas across the country, including Batangas, Bulacan, Dagupan, Naga, Cavite, Manila, Quezon City, Bohol, Ormoc, Koronadal, Butuan and Tagum.
Active GSIS regular members may apply for the loan if they are permanent; with paid premiums for the last three years; are not on leave of absence without pay; have an outstanding loan with DepEd-accredited private lending institutions (PLIs); have no due and demandable GSIS loan; and have no pending administrative or criminal case.
If a private lender has filed a case against members for nonpayment of obligations after GSIS loan payments have been prioritized by virtue of DO 38, such members are still eligible to apply for GFAL.
Qualified members may borrow up to P500,000, provided their take-home pay will not go lower than P5,000 after their monthly obligations have been deducted.
The loan is payable in monthly installments for six years at 6-percent interest rate per annum computed in advance. Payments will be automatically deducted from the borrower’s salary.
To apply, members may submit through their agency authorized officers (AAOs) a duly accomplished form, attached to which is an AAO-certified true copy of their pay slips for the last three months; certified documents specifying loan details with PLIs, such as borrower loan agreements and loan vouchers; and GSIS pro-forma statement of account duly accomplished by PLIs.